Adventures of a bicycle commuter in the Research Triangle Park area of North Carolina.

Friday, February 18, 2011

Be vewy vewy quiet, I'm hunting wabbits

While I harbor no illusions that spring has arrived early, but I have been seeing signs of it. This week has featured mild temperatures and I have seen an increase in wild life on my commute. My favorite animal to spot is a rabbit.

No, I don't hunt Bugs Bunny like Elmer Fudd, but I have been known to judge the quality of my ride not by my average speed and heart rate but by the number of rabbits I see. It makes a nice contrast to driving were you almost never see a rabbit.

Lately I have been seeing more rabbits. Some of this is due to the warmer weather and some to my ride covering the pre-dawn light at this point. I have been seeing an average of 3 rabbits along my route. One nice fat one just sat barely off the path the other morning and watched me pass. Usually the move away as I approach and occasionally the run down the path ahead of me and then bolt into the woods.

I have also seen deer a couple of times recently on a section of the greenway which is less than a mile from a state park. That is fairly rare and this section will start getting a lot more traffic as Spring actually starts, which is why spotting them is so rare.

On various commutes of the past I have also seen foxes, snakes, a raccoon, owl, and a turkey. I feel lucky to have a commute I can enjoy so much.